The Bloody Star treasure
by Saiyan Huntress
Summary: Bulma finds an old treasure map while cleaning up the house and decides to pull the whole Saiyan gang into a treasure hunt.
1. An old map

**The _Bloody Star_ Treasure**

_by__ Saiyan Huntress_

**Chapter 1 – An old map**

 The sun was rising over the huge city of Western Capital. It was Saturday and the streets were emptier than usually. Only some sleepy policemen were on their way back from the night patrol. The night had been busy and all they wanted now was to get home and have a huge cup of coffee.

„Check out the Capsule Corporation," one of them remarked as they passed a tall hemispherical building with a high wall around it. All the windows were opened and the men could hear loud rock music coming from one of the rooms.

„Bulma is cleaning up again," the other one said and looked at his watch with a frown. „And it's five o'clock in the morning...!"

„She always cleans up in the mornings," the third one added. „An early bird as she is."

The first policeman grinned. „Yeah, but I sure feel sorry for her husband…"

Bulma, as the policemen had noticed, was really cleaning up. She had been awake for nearly an hour already, running around the house with a vacuum cleaner and singing '_We will rock you_' as loudly as it gets. She knew that the volcano would erupt any second now but what the heck – somebody **has** to keep the huge place clean and besides, what's life without action?

The woman had just reached the fifth living room as she heard the bedroom door slam. On the next second the door to the living room flew wide open and a very angry and sleepy-looking Saiyan prince dashed in.

"Are you outta your _mind_???" he demanded. "Have you ANY idea what time it is? Some people are trying to SLEEP in here!!!"

Bulma smiled at him. "Morning, Vegeta. It's already 5 a.m. and it's not my fault that you had to train so long last night." She continued with the vacuuming. "Don't be so grumpy every single morning. Ever heard the saying 'the early bird gets the worm'?"

Vegeta growled and popped down on the couch. "Ever heard the saying 'the early worm gets eaten'?" He examined the TV guide and then threw it out of the window. "Even the TV reporters are asleep at this time. What's for breakfast?"

"I'll get there." Bulma grinned. "And I'd get there faster if you'd help me with cleaning."

"Rrriiiight…" her husband muttered with a frown. "There… now you woke the brat up too."

Seconds later the door flew open again and Trunks hopped in. "Mornin', everybody! What's for breakfast?"

"Oh great, two of the kind," Bulma remarked and poked the couch Vegeta was sitting on with the vacuum cleaner. "Heya, excuse me?" Vegeta got up and lifted the couch up too with a slightly annoyed look on his face. "See, that wasn't too hard… say Trunks, why don't you go and make your own breakfast?"

Vegeta gasped and gazed at her. "Have you lost it? Remember the last time you told Trunks to add some flour to the cake mix?"

"I swear that I have no idea what happened," Trunks stated. "It blew up by itself!"

"Alright, then take the vacuum cleaner instead of me, I'll go and make some omelet," Bulma suggested. Trunks grabbed the cleaner and Bulma trotted to the kitchen. Vegeta followed her.

"I can't believe it," he yawned. "There are billions of women in this Universe and I'm the one stuck with a cleaning maniac who wakes up when normal people go to sleep and who can't even sing 'We will rock you' without messing the notes up…"

Bulma grinned at him while cooking the omelet. "I didn't force you to stay here. Besides, you don't sing much better than me." She kicked the fridge door open and threw a huge block of meat to Vegeta. "There, make yourself useful and hack it."

By the time Trunks finished the cleaning and came to the kitchen, most of the omelet was already gone. The kid grabbed the last piece from Vegeta's plate and complained: "Dad, for god's sake, how do you expect me to grow up as a Saiyan warrior and all that stuff when you don't even leave me a lousy little piece of omelet for breakfast???"

"There should be some last night's pizza in the fridge," Bulma shouted over her shoulder while going back to cleaning.

It was almost noon when Bulma stopped vacuuming and came to the living room where Trunks was watching TV.

"Where's your dad?" she asked, went to the cupboard and pulled the drawer out. "Gosh, is this place here a mess or what?"

"Training," Trunks mumbled.

"_Was_ training," Vegeta corrected him as he entered the room, sweaty and tired but in a good mood. "What on earth are you doing now?" That question was to Bulma.

"This cupboard hasn't been cleaned for ages," the woman replied while looking at some old albums. "Oh look, here's a picture of me at the beach… I must have been five years old or so. Oh, and here's one party picture of my sixth birthday. Whoa, look…!" She turned the album to Vegeta and Trunks. "That's me making my first steps!"

Both Saiyans rolled their eyes. "Mum, please…!" "For crying out loud, Bulma…!"

Bulma didn't pay attention to them. "And another photo where I'm playing with my puppydog… and here's one where…" Suddenly she stopped and blinked, looking at one of the photos. "What the… can it be?" She stood up and rushed out of the room.

"What's with her?" Trunks asked with surprise. "Dad, wait up!" He ran after his dad who had left the room to follow Bulma.

They found her from a very small room on the last floor of the house. She was standing on the dusty floor in the middle of all sorts of big cardboard boxes, old furniture and piles of old magazines. Vegeta took one of those papers and looked at the date. The magazine was nearly thirty years old.

"What is this place?" he asked Bulma. "It seems old. You've never been here with your cleaning raids, am I right?

Bulma nodded, her eyes seemed empty and her thoughts were obviously somewhere else. "I had completely forgotten about this room. I've only been here once before." She bowed down and opened one of the cardboard boxes. "I was about ten years old when I accidentally stumbled here. My dad was furious for some reason and I promised him that I would never come here again."

Trunks blinked. "Grandpa – furious? I didn't know it was possible…"

Bulma gave him a short look. "Believe me, it's a very good thing that they're on vacation at the moment. He has been hiding something in here… I tried to find out what it was but after he caught me I was too scared to come here again and afterwards I just forgot about the place."

"Well, let's find out what his big secret is," Vegeta said and crouched down to examine one box. "Just books here…" He looked at the other box. "Cloth? Oh come on… this place is just an attic, nothing more."

Bulma shook her head. "This is an attic but there's also something else in here. I almost found it as a kid… I think it was a wooden chest or so," she added, frowning and trying to remember the details.

"That one?" Trunks asked behind the box pile. He leaped over the pile and handed Bulma a small chest.

"Precisely." Bulma looked at the chest, then at the ground. "The key should be around here somewhere."

"The key is right here," Vegeta announced. "Gimme that box." Before Bulma or Trunks could say anything, the prince took the chest and broke it open.

"Dad's gonna kill me…" Bulma mumbled, taking the chest back from Vegeta.

"_You_ didn't open it," Trunks remarked.

"No, but he can't kill Vegeta and that means I'm the next one in the list," Bulma grunted as she looked inside the chest. Her eyes turned big as she took something out of it.

"A piece of paper?" Vegeta and Trunks asked in the same time.

Bulma examined it, then she looked up with a very shocked look on her face.

"Not just any piece of paper," she said slowly. "It's a map…"

The father and the son looked at each other. Then they gazed at Bulma. "A **map**?"

Bulma nodded. "My dad was considered a mad scientist, more or less, when he founded the Capsule Corporation. Nobody wanted to support him. He had no money for starting with the inventions that are now famous and well-known all over the world. I don't know where he got this," she pointed at the map, "but this is a real map without a doubt." She saw a silent question in the eyes of the two and grinned. "You guessed it: it's a treasure map. Dad obviously wanted to use it for getting some capital for his very first inventions."

Trunks gasped. "Holy cow – a _real_ pirate treasure map???"

Vegeta was being a bit more rational. "This map is really old. It may be real but how do you know that someone hasn't found the treasure yet? Maybe this map has done its job already… or maybe someone has found the treasure accidentally?"

Bulma looked at the map. "I don't think so. It looks like the map is showing an area in the Southern Seas and people don't go there very often. Besides, who would keep the map after finding the treasure? Especially locked into a wooden chest?"

Trunks was hopping up and down. "Let's go and find the treasure then!"

Vegeta grinned. "The kid's got a point. The Southern Seas aren't too far away. I could make it before dinner."

"You need me to read the map and I can't fly," Bulma reminded him.

"I could carry you," Vegeta remarked thoughtfully, "but I have my dignity… how about a plane?"

Bulma looked at the map with a frown. Suddenly she smiled and looked at Vegeta. "Where is your sense of adventuring?"

"A sense of what?" Vegeta asked back.

Bulma grinned. "I have an idea. What would you guys think of one good old-fashioned treasure hunting?"

"Come again?"

The woman sighed and explained: "Why don't we take a ship and **sail** to the Southern Seas?"

"That will take an eternity," Vegeta grunted as Trunks's eyes turned bigger and bigger. "Mum, that has _got_ to be the _best_ idea you've ever had!!"

After ten minutes of trying to talk Vegeta in the Saiyan prince frowned a bit and stated: "Alright, I'll come to this stupid trip… but only under one condition."

"And that is…?" Bulma asked.

Vegeta grinned at her. "I'll be the captain."

Bulma blinked, then she nodded. "Okay. But we need to take Gohan with us. A ship needs a first mate and he'd be perfect for the job."

"As long as he doesn't start getting on my nerves," Vegeta agreed.

So they packed their bags, Bulma took a small capsule with the ship, locked the front door and opened a plane capsule. "Off to Goku's house!" she announced and the small plane flew towards the distance.


	2. Hoist the sails!

**Chapter 2 – Hoist the sails!**

As they landed in front of Goku's capsule house, the family had just finished their dinner. Chichi was washing the dishes and Goku had gotten his hands on Gohan's brand new Playstation. The kids were nowhere to be seen.

"Gohan? He's in the backyard," Chichi replied to Bulma's question. "I think he's teaching Goten and this Videl-girl some stupid fighting tricks again." She sighed. "They could really spend their time studying instead of all those pointless…"

Bulma wasn't listening; she was on her way to the backyard where Goten and Videl were watching Gohan who was showing them the Jackie Chan kick.

"A treasure hunt" he asked after hearing the story. "Why not… in case my mum allows me to go."

Chichi was surprisingly understanding. "Why of course can you go, Gohan. But only under one condition."

"And that would be…?" Bulma asked with a sigh.

"I'm coming with you," Chichi announced.

Everybody in the room gasped. "Chichi, are you nuts?" Goku asked. "This could be really dangerous for you!"

"And it won't be less dangerous for my little Gohan," Chichi retorted, ignoring the fact that _she_ wasn't a half-Saiyan. "So I'm coming with you!" She rushed into the bedroom and returned in a minute with a pile of packages. "I'm ready to go! And I packed your things too, Gohan."

"Hey Mum," Goten asked, "could you pack my things too? I'm coming with you."

"Count me in," Goku added. "This sounds like fun!"

Chichi didn't even argue with them, she just dashed to the bedroom once more and returned with even more packages. "There. When do we start going?"

"Erm…" Videl had come up to Bulma and poked her. "Excuse me, can I come too?"

"Ask the captain," Bulma smiled at her and pointed at Vegeta.

Videl looked at Vegeta.

"Whatever," the prince grunted.

So they waited until Videl returned from Satan City with her packages, locked the door and tried to fit themselves into Bulma's small plane to fly to the beach. Finally Vegeta sighed and kicked most of the packs out, ignoring Chichi's loud complaining. The plane took off and they flew to the beach where Bulma closed the capsule and took out another one with the ship. She clicked on the capsule and threw it in the water. POOF and the capsule turned into a ship.

Everyone gazed at it.

"You never said that it was a **clipper**," Vegeta said to Bulma, examining the tall masts and linen sails. "Does this thing even float?"

"It's a very good ship, for your information," Bulma snapped. "Did you expect us to go on a treasure hunt with a cargo vessel or what?"

"She's a beauty," Videl remarked, admiring the clipper. "A bit small for a three-masted but big enough for the eight of us, I'd say."

"Are you a ship expert or something?" Goku asked her.

Videl blushed and grinned. "My dad collects model ships. I've learned a lot about them in his model cabinet."

"Okay, let's get on board," Bulma called as she climbed up the ladder that was hanging down the side of the ship.

The ship was really in a good condition. After throwing the packs in the cabins and taking a fast look at the deck Vegeta announced that they were ready to go, he would be the captain and anyone having a problem with it would walk the plank, end of story.

"You, Chichi, to the galley, now. Bulma, get all the maps you can find and take them to the navigator's cabin. Take that Videl with you. You two brats, up to the crow's nest and hoist the sails on you way. Gohan, go to the cargo hold and make sure that there are no leaks, fix them if you find any. Kakarot… I don't care what you do, just stay off my sight until I call you or something. Oh right, you can go and heave the anchor. But stay out of my sight one way or another. Move it, people!" Vegeta demanded and dashed off to the captain's bridge.

Everybody was just standing there and blinking except for Trunks who pulled Goten's arm. "You heard my dad, we gotta hoist the sails and it's a strong wind, let's make it snappy!"

"Hoist what?" Goten asked.

"Haven't you read 'The Treasure Island'? We gotta tie the sails open, y'know." Trunks noticed the surprised look on the others' faces and explained very fast: "A galley is the ship's kitchen and you, Goku, have to pull that big chain until you get a huge piece of metal out of the water."

It took less than five minutes before the clipper turned to the open sea, all sails full of wind and Vegeta standing behind the steering wheel. It wasn't exactly the captain's job but he liked it. Gohan who hadn't found anything in the cargo hold was in the navigator's cabin with Bulma, trying to find the fastest and easiest way to the island that had the treasure on it… at least according to the map.

"Well, that won't be a hard trip," he said, putting the huge map of the Southern seas next to the small treasure map. "There aren't even any smaller islets on the way and the barometer is showing great weather all the time."

"Maybe, but it's a long way and we need to eat," Bulma replied. "After all, we have five Saiyans on board. So I'd say that we'll turn to this island first…"

The two kids were sitting on top of the main mast in the crow's nest and fighting for the spyglass.

"I wanna see if there are any pirate ships out there!" Goten yelled, grabbing the spyglass from Trunks.

"I wanna see it too and I'm older than you!" Trunks retorted and grabbed it back.

"Shut up, you brats or I'll send you down to wash the decks!" Vegeta's voice shouted from the captain's deck.

Videl was sitting on the captain's deck and sewing something. Vegeta didn't mind her because she was pretty quiet with her work. But then Goku happened to stumble to the bridge and asked with big interest: "Hey Videl, whatcha doing?"

"I'm sewing a flag for the ship," Videl replied without looking up. "A ship must have a flag or it's just not a ship, you know…"

Vegeta turned around. "Let me see that."

Videl picked her work up and showed it to Vegeta.

"A **Jolly Roger**?" Vegeta asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Why not?" Videl asked back. "You'll never know who we may meet out there." She continued with her work and Vegeta turned back to the steering wheel as Goku complained: "Vegeta, I'm bored!"

"Go fishing," Vegeta suggested

Five minutes later Goku returned to the bridge with a huge shark hanging on his shoulder. "Got one, now what?"

"To the galley," Vegeta snapped without even looking back.

The shark was really tasty. Vegeta was the only one who hadn't come to lunch because someone had to be behind the steering wheel. Bulma took him a big plate of shark fins after everyone else had finished the dinner. "Thanks," the prince mumbled as he stuffed his mouth full of meat and kept his eyes on the sea. The clipper wasn't exactly what a sail ship should be – first of all, it actually had a captain's bridge (clippers usually don't) and you could see the whole ship from that bridge. That's how Vegeta was able to lead the whole ship without having to move from behind the wheel.

"It's peaceful out here," Bulma remarked while Vegeta was eating.

"Mmmpfhhh." Vegeta replied, gnawing the fin. He swallowed it and said, coughing: "There is a ship right on our course. We should meet it on our way. Tomorrow, I assume."

Bulma looked at him with surprise, then took out a map and looked at it. "We're not on any sailing route. What's that ship doing on this latitude?"

"Treasure hunters?" Trunks guessed.

Bulma and Vegeta looked up. Trunks was sitting right above their heads on the mizzen topsail yard and grinning at them.

"Didn't I tell you to stay in the crow's nest?" Vegeta asked.

"Goten is up there, " Trunks replied. "I'm keeping an eye on the sea down here. Gohan wanted me to tell you that the barometer has fallen."

"How low?" Bulma asked.

"To the deck," Trunks said. "Looks like it wasn't attached well enough. We don't have a barometer any more. Is that a bad thing?"

Vegeta frowned. "No. It's not a bad thing if you like it when a huge thunderstorm hits you in the middle of your best dream. We're not able to predict a storm any more."

Bulma tried to comfort them. "We still have the Capsule Corporation Super-Reliable Weather Predictor For A Week®. I don't think a storm will get us before we notice."

Vegeta looked at her thoughtfully. "Now don't tell me that you're keeping the ship's log book on a computer or something?"

"Of course I am." Bulma stared at him. "Paper is so unreliable."

Nothing much happened during the rest of the day. A dragon flew by and tried to breathe fire at the ship but Vegeta was faster. Everyone complained that the dinner wasn't half as tasty as the lunch but the dragon had been quite old as well…

When the evening came, Bulma went to the bridge to tell Vegeta that it was bedtime.

"You can't stay out here all night," she said. "We don't need a captain that wanders around with dark circles under his eyes and falls down every two minutes. Get yourself a night watch and go to sleep."

"Yeah, and who do you suggest? Gohan would be best for the job if I wouldn't know that this stupid mother of his will complain for hours when she finds out that we want her 'precious little sonny'" Vegeta rolled his eyes, "to stay up all night. That way none of us will get any sleep."

Bulma sighed and nodded. "Got that right. That leaves Goku and Goten out of the question too. And Trunks is… just unreliable. He's too hyperactive for standing here all night. Well, that means that I'll stay as the night watch."

Vegeta frowned. "No you won't. I don't need a navigator who wanders around the ship like a zombie in the daytime. Hey you, Videl!" he suddenly yelled over the whole ship.

Videl turned out to be perfect for the job. The next morning when everyone woke up, she was standing behind the wheel like a statue and announced to Vegeta that another dragon had passed by at night. Vegeta frowned when he heard it.

"What are they doing so far out on the sea?" he wondered. "There has to be a nest around here somewhere."

"Maybe they're water dragons?" Videl guessed.

Vegeta shook his head. "The one we had for dinner yesterday wasn't a water dragon. Besides, those don't fly. This is strange…"

"Ship waah-aah-aaaahead," Trunks's sleepy and yawning voice suddenly shouted from the crow's nest.

Bulma grabbed the spyglass. "Indeed… wow, and they're sailing under the Jolly Roger!" she said with surprise.

Videl grinned. "So are we." She had finished sewing the flag early in the morning while standing behind the wheel and gotten it up to the top of the main mast too.

Trunks and Goten were awake on the same second and jumped down on the deck. "A pirate ship? Where? Where??"

"We'll meet them in an hour or so. Videl, go to sleep," Vegeta ordered.

"I can stand here for an hour," Videl yawned. "I wanna meet the pirates too."


	3. The pirates

**Chapter 3 – The pirates**

An hour passed. Trunks and Goten were hopping up and down on the bowsprit (while some sharks were getting nervous breakdowns right under their feet because although once in a while the boys lost the balance and fell down, they always flew back up before the sharks could get them.). They were both more excited than ever. "A real pirate ship! Wow, this is so **_coooooool_**!!!!" Finally the two ships confronted and the crew of the clipper came to the upper deck to see the pirates. Trunks and Goten practically fainted.

It was _really_ a pirate ship. Old, tattered and with some suspicious-looking brownish spots on the deck and boards. The crew of the other ship had also gathered to the deck and they were obviously real pirates, with golden earrings, wooden legs and scarred faces. But they didn't seem hostile – maybe because of Videl's Jolly Roger in the clipper's main mast.

"Arr mateys," one pirate with a big brown beard shouted. "You be pirates too?"

"What is this language?" Goku asked with surprise while Gohan shouted back: "We're more like treasure hunters."

The pirates grinned. "Aye, it be a nice way for puttin' it… Who be yer captain?"

"That's me," Vegeta announced, stepping forward. "Who's yours?"

"Arr, that be me," the pirate with the brown beard replied. "Black Captain of the Southern Seas thay be callin' me… and what be yer name, lad?"

Vegeta frowned at the 'lad' part but still said: "Vegeta. The prince of the Saiyans."

"A prince, aye?" Black Captain grinned, then his eyes examined the crew of the clipper. "Arr, women and young lads aboard… old Black Captain's eyes not be seein' this often."

"My crew is my business," Vegeta stated. "Listen, have you been seeing dragons flying around lately?"

The pirate nodded. "Aye… thar be many of 'em ugly creatures over there on the seas." He pointed at the direction where they had been coming from and where the clipper was heading to. "Tis be strange, I be tellin' ye that… thar be no islands yet the dragons be flyin' around there like crazy."

"No islands?" Bulma asked with great surprise. "But there _has_ to be an island right on our course, about five days' sailing from here."

The pirate looked at her with a grin. "Lookin' for ol' Bloody Star treasure, aye lady?"

Bulma blinked with surprise. "Bloody Star…?" Suddenly she gasped and dashed away. Seconds later she returned with the old treasure map. "Vegeta, look!"

"Do you **really** have to run around like that all the time?" Vegeta asked. "What?"

"Look at the map!" Bulma stuck the map under her husband's nose. "We didn't look at it correctly! It's not an X marking the spot, it's a small star! And it's not made with ink, but…"

"Blood," Black Captain nodded. "Ye not be knowin' the story of tis map, do ye? Well, me may be tellin' ye tis story... if me get something back for it."

Vegeta was about to snap something when Gohan bowed down, opened a small trapdoor next to the steering wheel and took a bottle from a hold under it. He threw it to the captain. "There. Will you tell us the story?"

Black Captain caught the bottle and looked at it with a slight grin. "Arr, tis be good rum… you be a smart lad. Aye, Captain will be tellin' you the story of the Bloody Star now, so be listenin' carefully.

The _Bloody Star_ be a beautiful barkentine back on the days when the pirates still be sailin' the Southern Seas. Tis captain be Ironleg, the fiercest pirate of all times. He be sailin' for long years, aye, long years full of blood and fights and he be collectin' a huge treasure during that time. One day he be captured and imprisoned but nothing was to be found in the _Bloody Star_. Nobody be knowin' where Ironleg hid the treasure.

But Ironleg be smart, aye, very smart… he be drawin' three maps for the treasure. On the day that he be executin', he be askin' permission to sayin' goodbye to his three best friends: the first mate, the boatswain and the coxswain of the _Bloody Star_. Then he be givin' them the maps.

"You be me best friends," he be tellin' them. "You be tryin' to find the treasure. Me not be trustin' anyone else with it. Whoever may find it, may keep it. But remember mateys, tis not be an easy thing findin' the treasure."

Then he be leavin' the room and executed on the afternoon. But his three mateys be tryin' hard to find the treasure. They be getting' their own ships and crew and sailin' here to the Southern Seas. But they never be findin' the treasure. Old Ironleg really be very smart, aye. The boatswain be killed in a bar fight in a harbor and his map be buried with him, 'cause no man be knowin' 'bout it. The first mate be me grandfather, he be leavin' the map to my father and father be leavin' it to me. Me be not knowin' what happened to the coxswain but somehow ye got the ol' treasure map too so he must've be related to one of ye," the old captain finished his story and took a gulp from the rum bottle.

"But me can be tellin' ye, there be no treasure," he added. "Me just be there a week ago and there be no island out there. The ol' Ironleg just be foolin' his ol' mateys." He looked at the clipper. "So if yer lookin' for the Bloody Star treasure, ye won't be findin' it. Ye have a nice clipper, really nice… but it be not helpin' you out with this treasure, aye."

"Now what do we do?" Bulma asked Vegeta. "There is no treasure."

Vegeta had been listening to the whole story with a frown. Not a big surprise because pirate talk isn't easy to understand and besides, as we know, Vegeta frowns most of the time. But this time it seemed like he had something more important in mind.

"We'll keep going," he said. "There are some things I wanna settle out there, treasure or not." He turned around and went to the steering wheel. "Brats, to the sails and Kakarot, make yourself useful and get some of those sharks for dinner instead of poking them."

The two kids flew up and started hoisting the sails, everyone else ran back to their positions. Bulma turned to the pirates and said: "Thank you for the story and have a safe sailing."

"Same back to ye, lady," the old captain replied and sent his men back to work. "Little lads flyin' around like seagulls… now me be seein' everything," he remarked to his first mate.

"Arr captain, ye better be seein' tis," the first mate replied and pointed to the clipper that was now moving along.

Because Vegeta had just shouted out: "Trunks, get up there behind the main sail and push that ship on a little… we'll never get to that non-existing island with that tempo." Trunks had flown behind the sail and blasted a bit of energy in it; the clipper bolted for a second and then boomed towards the distance.

"Well, **now** me be seein' everything," the captain said. His first mate nodded.

"That was the worst Scottish accent I've ever heard," Bulma remarked in the navigator's cabin. "Gohan, how did you know about that bottle of rum?"

"The old log book," Gohan replied. "Say Bulma, has anyone from your family ever been a pirate or something?"

"I don't know… but I doubt it," the woman replied. "At least the card that we have is from my grandpa who won it in a poker game in some… harbor tavern." Her eyes turned big. "Hey Vegeta!" she shouted, running outside.

Vegeta grunted. "I'm gonna tie you to the front of the ship as a bow statue if you don't stop running around like that all the time," he announced. "Now what?"

"Remember the story Black Captain told us? Where he said that the boatswain was killed in a bar fight and buried with the map? Well, I just remembered that my grandpa once told me that he had won some little piece of map from a stranger in a harbor bar. It must be the same map! I had completely forgotten about that part!" Bulma explained and took a deep breath.

Vegeta raised a brow. "Okay… so now we know where this map comes from. And?"

Bulma gasped. "Don't you see? Black Captain had one of the maps, we have another one… so who has the third?"

Vegeta seemed surprised but then he grinned. "Don't worry about that one. We'll go there and I'll see if I guessed  right." He looked up at Trunks. "I'd say that we will make it there in… three hours, approximately. Enough time to have dinner."


	4. The island of the dragons

**Chapter 4 – The island of the dragons**

When the dinner was eaten, Bulma went to the navigator's cabin and checked the maps. The she went to the captain's bridge and put something on the steering wheel, right under Vegeta's nose. "Take a look at this."

Vegeta looked. It was a flat screen with an electronic map and a flashing red spot on it.

"Let me guess," he said in a tired voice. "The Capsule Corporation Super-Reliable Location Finder® or something?"

"Yep, and according to this we are almost there." Bulma pointed at a small island with the X on it. "As a matter of fact, we should be…" She frowned. "We should be seeing the island already."

"Trunks!" Vegeta shouted. "Stop the ship! Kakarot… now where is that clown when you need him? Okay, Goten, get down here and lower the anchor."

The clipper was stopped in a minute and Vegeta flew out to the sea. He crossed the surface for a few times, then returned to the ship and shook his head with surprise.

"Are you sure about that map of yours?" he asked his wife.

"Well, _excuse me_," Bulma glared at him.

"Unless…" Vegeta went on the bowsprit (two more sharks down…) and blasted a small energy orb to the empty air.

They gasped. The orb hit something invisible in the air and on the same second a huge sphere of energy appeared in front of them. It was blue and had short lines of electricity running over it. And… there was an island inside the sphere.

"So I was right. Looks like that Ironleg was a bit smarter than we thought," Vegeta said and looked at his crew. "Well? Shall we go to that treasure hunt or whatever?"

They decided that Chichi would stay behind to keep an eye on the ship (she didn't want to because she was afraid that angry tigers may eat her sons when she isn't around but she calmed down surprisingly fast when Vegeta said that he felt like _someone_ needed to walk the plank.) The others flew to the sphere (Trunks carried his mother because Vegeta refused to do it) and looked at it.

"Looks dangerous to me," Videl muttered.

"It's just energy," Goten said and poked the sphere. BZZZZT and he fell down into the sea.

"Never, and I mean NEVER poke an electrical sphere," Vegeta told him as he flew back up to the others. The prince formed a small energy ball and blasted it into the surface of the sphere. It bounced back and hit Goku in the face.

"Ow," Goku stated.

Vegeta grinned. "Hard to admit it… but I didn't mean to."

 "Let me try." Goku put his hands together. "Kame… hame…"

"Quit fooling around," the prince of the Saiyans growled. "Even if you manage to break the sphere with the Kamehameha, you'll destroy the island with it." He looked at the blue surface. "Okay… let's see if you can resist that one." He pushed his fingers into the sphere and grabbed it. Blue electricity lines started running over his body but he didn't seem to care. The sphere bent a little… then Vegeta tore a hole in it.

"Get in there," he demanded. When they were in, he followed them and let the sphere go. The hole closed instantly.

Vegeta sniffed himself as they landed on the beach of the tropical island. "Great. I smell like fried chicken."

"So that's where those dragons were coming from…" Bulma said thoughtfully. The island had a huge mountain in the middle of it and at least ten dragons were flying around near its top.

"They're able to fly through that sphere and dad's energy ball didn't do the trick?" Trunks asked with surprise.

"Dragons have a very thick skin," Gohan said. "Where's that treasure supposed to be, Bulma?"

Bulma checked the map. "Erm… I'd say that on top of that dragon nest."

"Let's get up there then." Vegeta floated up in the air and headed towards the mountain. Trunks grabbed Bulma and followed him, and so did the others.

"Look!" Videl shouted when they had crossed about half of the way and were just about to fly over a river. "Down there, on the shore!"

They landed by the river.

"That's where most treasure hunters end," remarked Goku.

There was a skeleton lying on a small plain next to the river. Wild animals had eaten most of its clothes but it was holding a little leather bag in its hand and the animals hadn't wanted it. Gohan crouched and took the bag. He opened it.

"Well?" Goten asked.                                                                                                                            

"Well, at least now we know where the third map is," Gohan said. "And that guy is the coxswain of the _Bloody Star_, I assume." He showed the others a small ragged map and a few other papers that had been inside the bag.

"What are those papers?" Videl asked? "Letters?"

Gohan examined them. "No… that's the diary of the coxswain. Listen.

"June 27. We left the harbor and headed to the Southern Seas. The wind is strong. We should make it within two weeks.

June 28. Still sailing, the weather is fine…" yada yada… two weeks of sailing, a small storm…" Gohan turned the papers. "Aha. He reached the island.

"July 12. We should be there but there's no sight of the island. The crew is worried about the dragons.

July 13. Nothing. We keep sailing, the crew is getting grumpy. I'm getting concerned.

July 14. Nothing.

July 15. Still nothing.

July 16. I can't believe it. My own crew betrayed me. They gave me a boat and some food and told me to go and search for the treasure on my own.

July 17. My ship and my crew left and I'm alone on the sea with the boat. The dragons seem hungry.

July 18. I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. One of the dragons was flying in front of me and suddenly a blue sphere appeared in front of it. The dragon flew through the sphere and it disappeared again. There was an island in the sphere. Am I going crazy or is it a good sign?

July 19. I made it to the island. I hopped on the dragon's back when it was flying low and I got to the island with it. Now I need to find the treasure.""

Gohan turned the papers again. "More than a week traveling in a jungle… hungry howling at nights… here's the end of the diary.

"July 29. I found a new kind of fruit. It's tasty and doesn't seem poisonous.

July 30. I keep going.

July 31. I reached a river and am trying to figure out how to cross it. The howling is making me worry."" Gohan looked up. "That was the last entry…"

"So much for treasure hunting by foot," Vegeta turned around with a grunt. "Is there anything else interesting or can we keep going?"

"We should bury him," Videl said.

Vegeta was already flying on towards the mountain top.

"Okay, maybe on our way back…" the girl muttered as she followed the others.

They reached the top and looked around. The dragons didn't seem happy about the visitors but the Saiyans kept them in a good distance. They discovered a small cave and landed in front of it. Bulma announced that the treasure should be in the cave, so they climbed in and waited until their eyes got used to the darkness.

"There's a tunnel here!" Trunks shouted, lurking deeper into the cave. "Come on, let's see what's down there!"

The path went down to the darkness. It was diagonal and very slippery. And smelly.

"What's that smell??" Goten complained. "And why is the ground so slippery?"

"I'd say that those two questions have one answer," Goku mumbled. "Dragons…"

They kept going. The air was hot and it was hard to breathe. It was getting darker and darker. Soon they weren't able to see anything.

"Somebody _please_ use that energy blast of yours so that we could at least see where we're going!" Bulma demanded.

"A bit pointless when walking in a dragons' cave," Vegeta's voice remarked in the dark. "They use their breath as fire material and when we'd use _ki_ in here, it would react like a match in a gas tank if you see what I mean."

"This place could use some airholes," Goku said, coughing.

"What if we'll run into some dragon in this dark cave?" Videl asked a bit nervously.

"There aren't any dragons down there, I don't sense any auras," Gohan said. "Although… there seem to be some of them behind us."

Bulma squeaked. "Hurry up you guys…! Let's get down there already!"

They went on. Suddenly Goku shouted: "Hey! I can see a light!"

"Too much of those dragon fumes…" Vegeta remarked.

"No, there really is a light!" Videl said. "And the air is getting cooler!"

After about five minutes' walk they came out of the tunnel and reached a small room. It had a little hole in its wall that allowed the daylight and fresh air to get inside the room.

Bulma looked around. "Empty…?"

Trunks and Goten were sneaking around already. "Yo guys, there's something here!" Goten said and pushed a spot on the wall. "It looks like…"

A stone block turned and revealed a secret passage.

"…a button." Goten said slowly and blinked.

The secret passage led to a small tunnel. And when they reached the end of it…

"Holy…!" Bulma gasped.

"This is so **beautiful**," Videl practically whispered.

Trunks and Goten could only gaze around; their eyes turned huge.

The room was full of big wooden chests and piles of expensive fur. The chests were opened and filled with jewels, pearls, gold and silver coins… there were loads of necklaces and earrings on the cold stony ground… some brand-new looking swords and armors in the corners… 

"Well, there we have our treasure," Vegeta announced. But it was obvious that he was as shocked as everyone else.

Goku crouched and took a handful of sapphires, emeralds and diamonds. "They're pretty," he said thoughtfully. "But that's all I see in them. Pretty stones… and people kill to get them?"

The others turned to look at him. The small room was suddenly very quiet.

Gohan took a silvery sword and examined it. "Ironleg killed so many innocent people to get that treasure, and it has been hidden here for nearly a hundred years without being useful to anybody. Pointless…"

Vegeta frowned and looked at Bulma who had tried a ruby necklace on. "Do you want to keep that?"

Bulma looked up with slight hesitance. "And what if I do?"

"Nothing… you should just keep in mind that this necklace has probably been torn off from some rich lady's neck," Vegeta remarked. "All those things here are covered with blood." He looked around. "I can still feel it… yearn for revenge in this treasure."

"This place… is a cemetery." Bulma said, dropping the necklace.

Vegeta didn't seem to listen. His voice sounded like he was in a totally different world. "Fighting for pride, for revenge, for self-defense, maybe for someone you love… I can understand that. But for shiny stones? Kakarot, I have to agree with you."

"Let's get out of here," Videl said quietly. "Let's leave this place exactly as we found it. The dragons will protect it. We found the treasure, didn't we?"

Suddenly Vegeta smiled slightly. "You're right, Videl. We came looking for the treasure and we found it." He turned around and went to the entrance. "I'd say that we've gained our goal. I'm done here, ready to go when you are."

Chichi almost got a heart attack when she heard the story.

"You mean you found a whole _room_ full of gold and jewels and you decided to _leave_ it there???" she yelled. "Did this blue sphere brainwash you all or what???"

"You weren't there, Chichi," Goku told her. "You wouldn't understand. Vegeta, I'm gonna go heave the anchor."

Vegeta nodded. "Brats…" Trunks and Goten were already hoisting the sails. The clipper turned around and sailed towards the distance.

* * * * *

It was a sunny Saturday morning in the Western Capital. The sleepy policemen passed the huge building of Capsule Corporation and stopped for a minute to listen.

"_You aint nothin' but a hound dog_…" Elvis's and Bulma's voices yelled over each other. The policemen heard a bedroom door slam and grinned.

"Same old story," the first policeman remarked.

"It's a wonder that her husband hasn't killed her yet," the second one said.

The third one yawned. "I want coffee…"

"You're not trying to find another treasure map, are you?" Vegeta asked while munching a huge bacon. Bulma was vacuuming the kitchen floor. She looked up and smirked.

"What for? The Capsule Corporation is doing better than ever. It may have been a nice adventure but hey, Goku was right, a bunch of shiny stones for all that work? They're nothing but aluminum oxide, you know."

Vegeta frowned. "Alumiwhat?"

"All sapphires, emeralds and rubys have the same chemical formula," Bulma explained. "Aluminum oxide. Plane building material and the air combined."

Vegeta yawned and grunted. "I don't care of chemistry, especially at this time of the day." He glared at the cuckoo clock on the wall. 

Bulma stretched her back and went to the window. The sun was rising. The woman looked at the sky.

"Blood, revenge, cries and fear," she suddenly said. "All for nothing."

"And I still have one question," Vegeta replied. "But I'll probably never get the answer."

Bulma looked at him. "What question?"

The Saiyan prince frowned. "The energy sphere. Who created it? And how?"

Bulma seemed shocked, then she nodded and turned back to the window.

"We'll never know…"


End file.
